Cuba warns of 'bloodshed' if US attacks, Washington imposes new sanctions

(Patria) - Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel has warned of "bloodshed" in the event of a US attack, while the US Treasury Department has sanctioned Cuba's main intelligence agency and top leaders as tensions between the bitter enemies have escalated, AFP reported.

Diaz-Canel emphasized Cuba's right to defend itself a day after the US news site Axios reported that Havana had received over 300 military drones from Russia and Iran and was considering their use against US targets.

The report, which cited US intelligence officials, was published amid growing speculation that the United States is considering military action to undermine Cuba's communist government.

Axios cited unnamed US officials who said Havana was considering drone attacks on the US base in Guantanamo Bay in eastern Cuba, on US warships, and possibly even on Florida.

Writing on social media platform X, Diaz-Canel reiterated that Cuba "does not pose a threat" to the United States or any other country and warned that a US attack would "cause bloodshed with unforeseeable consequences".

He did not directly address the alleged Cuban buildup of combat drones, but said the island has an "absolute and legitimate right to defend itself from a military attack".

Cuba's ambassador to the United Nations took a similarly defiant stance.

"If anyone tries to invade Cuba, Cuba will respond, there is no doubt about it," Ernesto Soberon Guzman told AFP in New York.

"In the 1960s, they (the US) tried to attack Cuba and were defeated. Of course, everyone can say that this is a different situation. Yes, it is. But the will of the Cuban people has not changed."

Increased pressure

Washington increased pressure on Cuba yesterday by announcing sanctions against its intelligence agency and nine Cuban nationals, including the ministers of communications, energy, and justice.

Also among those sanctioned were several senior Communist Party officials and at least three generals, according to a statement from the Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control.

The United States has been pressuring Cuba since January, with President Donald Trump considering overthrowing the country's leadership, as US forces did in Venezuela that month.

Washington has cut off one of Cuba's last economic lifelines by halting oil shipments from Venezuela, its main fuel supplier, and threatening tariffs on any country that tries to make up the shortfall.

Trump's oil blockade has exacerbated Cuba's severe humanitarian and energy crisis, marked by increasingly frequent power outages.

The Cuban government has accused Washington of trying to create a pretext for military intervention, after first attempting to "strangle" the Cuban economy with a paralyzing fuel blockade.

The Axios report was published days after CIA Director John Ratcliffe visited Havana for negotiations.

The report also comes amid reports in the US media that the Trump administration is seeking to indict Raul Castro, the 94-year-old brother of the late revolutionary leader Fidel Castro, as part of its pressure campaign.

Cuba says the oil blockade has caused it to run out of diesel and fuel oil needed to power generators that supplement electricity production at its aging power plants.

On Monday, the island received a new shipment of humanitarian aid from Mexico - the fifth from the Mexican left-wing government since February.

Unlike previous shipments, which were transported by the Mexican Navy, this shipment was delivered by a merchant ship flying the Panamanian flag, AFP journalists noted.

The ship is carrying 1,700 tons of aid.

Cuban Minister of the Food Industry, Alberto Lopez, said the aid included powdered milk and beans for children and the elderly.